Chapter 8
I circled back around the house and snuck into the ballroom to suss out any other Eishei Kodesh or any suspicious behavior in the wake of the attack on Jared. My magic vision didn’t reveal anyone in an amped-up state of excitement or dread.
However, plenty of guests groused their annoyance that Jared’s speech had been held up, appeased by servers out in full force with champagne and appetizers.
“Fancy meeting you here, chère.” Rukhsana Gill sidled up beside me.
“I could say the same. How did you get an invite?” Tickets weren’t for sale to the general public, offered only to a highly curated list of potential donors.
“I like to know my enemies,” Rukhsana said.
“So do I, but that’s not an answer.” Was she Trad after all?
“Is it not?” She shrugged in a very Gallic way. “How did you get an invitation? Unless level three status comes with a significant pay bump?”
“Hardly.” I scanned the crowd for any other Eishei Kodesh. There weren’t any familiar faces, but if Rukhsana was here, who’s to say that others weren’t?
Like Chandra’s fellow matchmakers?
Orange flame magic was the second-most common type after red, but the level of power and control deployed in Jared’s attack narrowed the list. Provided that person’s ability was on record somewhere. Or that they hadn’t lied about their magic type like Maud had. Hers was so rare that it would have made her a target.
Even if Rukhsana had magic, I didn’t suspect her or any of her crew for this fake assassination attempt. It wasn’t her style. Blackmailing him for information, sure, but this felt like a warning. For Jared? For Roger?
But from whom?
“Much as it pains me to miss Jared’s big speech, I’m heading out,” I said to Rukhsana.
She bid me good-night and joined another group.
I beelined for my car, texting Michael that I was coming to see her and getting a reply that she was at home.
I’d barely parked out front of her building when someone popped up from my back seat.
I screamed.
A sour-smelling male vamp with stringy hair slithered into the passenger seat, smirking. “Thought I’d introduce my?—”
Still screaming, I grabbed the stake I’d taken to keeping in my cup holder and shoved it through his heart.
His eyes widened, then the fucker ashed all over my car.
I pulled out my phone and fired a text to Ezra. An asshole minion just gave me a heart attack.
I was cleaning up my vehicle when a portal opened and Ezra stormed through.
“Were you hurt?” His silvery-blue eyes blazed. He inhaled deeply, scenting me for wounds.
“I’m fine.” I kicked at the pile of ash. “He’s seen better days though.” I described him. “Any idea who he was? Will he be sorely missed?”
“Hunter. Total shithead who hasn’t advanced up the ranks in forty years.”
“Love that I’m getting the C Team now.”
“How did he know where to find you?”
“He hid in my car.” I shivered. “That better have been his idea and not a fun new policy from Natán.” I peered into the darkness. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“There aren’t any more stalkers around,” Ezra said.
“But there will be. What if one sees you in this mood? Your father will have a field day.”
Ezra laughed bitterly. “That’s what you’re concerned about?”
“Yes, and you should be too. Besides which,” I continued, “I was on Maccabee business and I’m at the home of the Maccabee director. It’s entirely inappropriate for you to be here.”
“I was a Maccabee.”
“Before you incinerated that bridge to be Lord of the Copper Hell.” He tensed and I gentled my voice. “Look, I get why you did it. You want answers about your mom’s suicide. But the very real fact remains?—”
He held up a hand, his expression in the moonlight as hard as granite. “Operative Fleischer doesn’t want to be seen with me.”
I unclenched my jaw. “I don’t have the energy for this tonight. Can we discuss it at dinner?”
“Is there still going to be a dinner?” he said sarcastically. “It is in a public place.”
I was tired, anxious, and upset about whatever the hell had just happened at the fundraiser, and I slammed my car door shut. “Not if you’re going to act like a little bitch.”
Yup, that was entirely the wrong thing to say, but he’d vanished through the portal before I could tell him I was sorry.
Mostly sorry.
Whatever. He’d be there Wednesday or he wouldn’t, but if we couldn’t figure out how to navigate us existing in two very opposing camps, then any reconciliation was over before it began.
Even though I had keys to Mom’s condo, I pressed the intercom button as a matter of courtesy to let her know I was here and stomped into the elevator.
Michael was waiting for me in her kitchen with the kettle on. “Rough night?”
“Jared was hit with orange flame magic, which Roger refused to believe, blaming his boss’s shock on his heart condition. He wanted to shut down any Maccabee investigation of it. Does that count?”
“I’d say so.” Michael got out the cannister of decaf English Breakfast. “What did Henderson say about Chandra?”
“He helped her find a good alarm company.”
“Any chance that Chandra was attacked with magic before she was shot?”
“I don’t know. I’d been examining her through my magic vision for signs of a lie and she spiked bright blue, but I attributed it to fear at seeing the assassin. The simplest explanation for tonight is that one of the protesters at the park got riled up.”
“But given all of Mr. Henderson’s nice and neat explanations, there’s still a sliver of doubt.” Michael glared at the kettle like it was the poor appliance’s fault for this mess.
“There is.” I grabbed the milk and honey for our tea. “I couldn’t detain Roger for further questioning tonight but?—”
“Roger Henderson is off-limits.” She poured boiling water into the mugs with the tea bags. “Until we have irrefutable evidence either that an Eishei Kodesh attacked his boss or that Roger had illegal business dealings with Chandra.”
We carried our tea over to her sofa.
“Give me a few operatives to work both angles,” I said. “And ask Keira for the fundraiser guest list.”
Michael reached for her phone on the coffee table and fired off a text. “Anything else?”
“My first order of business is to find another matchmaker.” I cradled my mug. “With all our intel, we had no idea any of them existed.”
“If any others do.”
“As weird as it sounds, I’m hoping she wasn’t alone in her bad choices. If that racket died with Chandra, it’ll be a lot harder to wrap up her murder investigation. Let’s assume for now she had Eishei Kodesh partners. That speaks to resources, deep pockets to cover their tracks. People who travel in circles I don’t usually have access to and who’ll be able to close ranks even more should a Maccabee start poking around.”
Michael sipped her tea. “You want to go undercover.”
“Yeah. I’m not a known element to the magic highfliers here in town. I can switch up my look and travel undetected. Attend various Eishei Kodesh events where our suspects would hang out. But I want another operative with me who can watch my back. We’ll meet in a secure site away from HQ.”
“You clearly have someone in mind.”
“Silas.” I blurted out the name.
Incredibly, she didn’t kibosh the idea outright. She ran her finger around the rim of her mug, her lips pursed. “Why him?”
“He’s a vampire who’s best friends with the Crimson Prince and had a public schism with the Maccabees for the past month.” These facts were good for my case to bring the vamp on board, but saying them aloud hammered home that dating Ezra would be so bad for my career. I caught myself rubbing a hand over my heart and dropped it into my lap. “Since we’re doing this investigation under the radar, his reputation might open doors for us that are otherwise closed. Plus, he’s tech savvy enough to get information from all sorts of places.”
Michael drummed her fingers against her mug. “You think he’d come back to the Maccabees after the bogus collusion charges?” Her expression hardened. “And everything he faced after that?”
“With the right incentive.” A juicy case beat listlessly playing video games at the Copper Hell. “And a huge freaking apology,” I added.
Silas had found Chandra for me in the first place. His skills were invaluable, and he had as much of an interest in putting a bow on this case as I did.
“Let me ask him,” Michael said.
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Nicely,” she added.
“Michael.” I practically growled her name.
“The Maccabees treated him badly.” She paused. “ I treated him badly. He’s been nothing but exemplary, yet I allowed personal prejudice to cloud my thinking. I should have stood up for him. Fought tooth and nail to secure his release.” She gave a one-shouldered shrug, shaking her head. “I’d like him to know that. To know that I intend to do better and make sure the other Maccabees do as well.”
“Can we get the Authority on board?”
“I’ll convince the ones who require convincing,” she said blandly.
My eyes went wide. “You’ll blackmail them?”
“Please, Aviva.” Her chuckle did not convince me otherwise. “Come in early tomorrow to get your team up to speed, but for now, it’s been a long night and?—”
I crossed one leg over the other, jauntily swinging my foot. “Oh, I think it can go on a bit longer, Mickey .”
My mother pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’d hoped you were leaving that alone.”
“You hoped wrong.” I grinned cheekily. “Sneak attack.”
“You really are very annoying.”
“Yup. And I’m your only child, so you have to stay on my good side for when you’re old and infirm. What’s the deal with you two?”
“Kiki—” She caught herself with a rueful smile. “Keira was my best friend and roommate. We met in university in a criminology class, and we drifted apart when you were little. Life happens.”
Life happened or I happened? Michael had been terrified of anyone learning what I was, so it wasn’t exactly a stretch to think that extended to her best friend. I’d been the same way. I frowned. Keira was my mom’s Sachie. The version of our friendship where I never told my best friend the truth.
I wiped my damp palms on my pants. “Okay,” I said simply. Losing Sach would devastate me; I’d take no joy in forcing my mother to relive her own loss.
Besides, I had Chandra’s murder to investigate and, if Jared’s attack tonight was connected, solve before our entire city went up in flames.